When Chicago-based artist Dee Clements sent me some of her work, I was imme­di­ately drawn to the details of her col­or­ful abstrac­tions. Her work is really some­thing that should be viewed inti­mately, as the small details are what I really like about her work.

Dee’s gives some expla­na­tion on her work:

I never really know what I have painted until the piece is fin­ished. I am inter­ested in paint­ing land­scapes and abstract­ing them. My paint­ings are essen­tially emo­tional responses to the world I observe. I find inspi­ra­tion from every­thing, a piece of trash on the street, the way the tree’s have grown in around the lagoon in the park by my house, how the cracks in the side­walk mean­der from weather and weight and time. I believe that there is poetry in the mun­dane and I try to to show the beauty of the every­day in my paintings.

Mean­ders is a great way to describe the images she pro­duces. The seem to travel, as if each ele­ment is part of a jour­ney. It’s an excit­ing part to Dee’s work.

You can check out more of Dee’s work at her blog. She also runs The Paper Crane, which fea­tures artists, has inter­views, as well as stu­dio visits.